A Chance Encounter
by MsTiggy
Summary: Mark finds himself wandering a strange hallway at NASA in the wee hours of the morning when he stumbles upon a Sat Com break room with a very unexpected woman in it. Rated T for language because Mark has a foul mouth.


Mark Watney sighed as he trudged down the deserted hallway of NASA headquarters. It was closing in on 3:30 in the morning and he was tired. More than tired. He was bone weary - quite literally as a matter of fact. He'd only been back in Earth gravity for 14 days after close to 2 and a half years at less than 50% of it. It was taking his bones and muscles time to get used to supporting his full weight again. Still, he soldiered on. He was an astronaut, dammit, and this was part of the deal.

So he walked. Doctor Bossy Beck said walking would help their muscles re-build after the partial atrophy they went into after minimal use for so long. They were all encouraged to walk as much as they could every day - no running or strenuous exercise yet, just walking. The only issue Mark had found with that directive was that it seemed wherever he walked there were people. People were fucking _everywhere_ on this planet, and they all seemed to want to talk to him. He'd forgotten what that was like. Being the sole occupant of an entire planet for more than a year will do that to a guy. You'd think that a guy who'd just been so alone for such a long time would want to be surrounded by people as much as possible, but the opposite was actually true. Not that he wanted to avoid all human contact, but any more than 5 or 10 people around at once made him edgy.

Thus we arrive at the reason he was wandering the hallways of NASA at the pre-dawn hours of the morning. He'd discovered that the place tended to be empty at this time of day so he had taken to doing his walking when there were a minimum of people around. He'd been lost in thought, however, and now came back to his senses to find that he was completely unfamiliar with the hallway he was currently in. He'd never had occasion to visit this particular section of the building and now he was lost. Lost and tired and completely alone. A slight sense of panic started to descend and he desperately searched for a landmark or window so he could orient himself in the building. A light coming out of a slightly open door just down the way caught his attention and he made his way to it. "BREAK ROOM" was all the sign on the door told him, which was unhelpful in solving the lost problem, but could be useful in solving the tired problem. He could use a break and a seat for a little while.

He opened the door and was greeted by a startled yelp from the room's occupant. Startled at the room being occupied, he also yelped, then got embarrassed and tried to cover it up by coughing.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I didn't think anyone would be in here," he said, looking at the woman seated at one of the tables with a mug of coffee in front of her.

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't expect there to be anyone else around at this hour," she replied, looking embarrassed.

"Mind if I sit? I've been walking around for a while and I'm bushed."

"No, please, sit," the woman gestured to a chair across the table from her.

"Thanks," Mark replied gratefully as he plopped ungracefully into the seat. "I'm Mark, by the way, Mark Watney."

"Yeah, I know," she blushed, looking down at her coffee mug.

"Oh, right, I guess everyone probably knows that. So weird." He shook his head at the strangeness of finding himself to be recognized wherever he went.

"I can't even imagine."

"So why are you working at this hour? Big deadline?"

"Not exactly," she answered. "I'm on Mars time and it's sunrise there right now so this is when I start my day today."

Mark flinched at the mention of the planet that had been his solitary confinement so very recently. "Mars time? I mean, I know why I'm on Mars time, but why are you?"

"I monitor the satellites and the images coming in from them in real-time, or as close to real-time as we can get."

He looked at her in puzzled awe for a minute. "You— I mean— How long have you been doing that?"

She looked him directly in the eyes for the first time. "About three years." And he understood her meaning. She had been watching him. She was the one who'd been at the other end of all those morse code messages he'd made out of martian rocks. His heart suddenly started to race and he studied her more carefully, wanting to memorize the features of the person he hadn't even known he'd been talking to. She had a pretty face, with almond eyes and a rosebud mouth. Her black hair was up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing plain jeans and a purple t-shirt with "NORTHWESTERN" emblazoned in white on the chest. She was currently biting her lower lip and looking at him slightly apprehensively.

"I'm really sorry if it's totally creepy that I was basically stalking you while you were there," she suddenly burst out.

Mark was still reeling. "What's your name?"

"Oh, Mindy. Mindy Park." She said quickly.

"You're the one who figured out I was alive, aren't you?"

She looked down at her coffee again and Mark thought her eyes might be getting watery. "Yes, I am," she choked.

Mark reached for her and lifted her chin so she looked back at him. His own eyes were swimming with tears and all he managed to say was a whispered "Thank you" before they began to overflow down his cheeks. He couldn't believe he could finally put a face to the nebulous idea of the person who had saved his life. He also couldn't believe that said face was so beautiful. _Stop it, Mark_ , he scolded himself. _You just haven't seen a woman in two and a half years besides Johanssen and Lewis, and they don't count._

Mindy reached up and tentatively covered his hand, still at her chin, with hers, and smiled a watery smile. Mark grasped her hand and moved them both back down to the table before sniffling slightly and using his other hand to wipe the dampness from his face.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head to clear it. "It's been kind of emotional for me, being back, you know?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nice to actually meet you in person. I feel like I've known you for years." Mindy replied before cringing. "Sorry, that's creepy."

"No, you have no idea how good it is to put a face and a name to the person I was talking to all that time."

"To be fair, I just downloaded the images and translated the morse code then sent out a bulk email to everyone who wanted it. You were talking to more people than just me. All of NASA, hell all of the world, was focused on you."

"Still, thank you for looking out for me. It kept me sane - knowing that someone was watching me, cared about what happened to me."

Mindy said nothing, just continued to sit and hold Mark's hand and allow him to process all of the emotions coursing through him. Finally he released her and sat back in his chair. "I suppose I should let you get back to work. Mars isn't going to watch itself, and I suppose someone has to keep an eye on it now that I'm not around."

She sighed. "Yes, I suppose so."

"Just one thing I need to know before you go." Mark said, and Mindy looked up at him expectantly. "How the hell do I get back to the astronaut quarters from here? I'm completely lost."

Mindy giggled and said "Oh, just turn right out of the door and then take the second hall on the right. That will lead you back to the main atrium and I assume you know the way from there."

"Yes, I do, thank you." Mark said, smiling as he pushed back the chair and stood. Mindy stood also and looked at Mark again. He felt a little awkward, not wanting the encounter to end but at the same time feeling the strong urge to flee. He settled for sticking out his hand for Mindy to shake. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mindy Park. I hope to see you again soon."

"That would be nice, Mr. Watney," Mindy replied respectfully, taking his hand in hers and shaking lightly.

"Mark - please."

"Okay, then. It was nice to finally see you in person, Mark." She said with a smile.

"It's nice to be seen in person," Mark replied before he could think. It's nice to be seen in person? Just stop talking before you make an even bigger fool of yourself, Mark!

Mindy lingered for a moment before releasing his hand to grab her coffee mug, which was still mostly full, and heading to the door. She looked back at him once before she left the break room and he was still looking at her, which made her flush and duck out the door towards her office.

Mark took a deep breath as soon as he thought she was out of earshot. He was blown away by this chance encounter with Mindy Park. _Of all the break rooms in all of NASA I walk into hers_ , he thought, before internally kicking himself for the lame reference. _I really need to study up on some current pop culture._ With that, he exited the break room and followed Mindy's instructions back to the atrium and then back to his temporary quarters. He had a lot to think about, and a lot to figure out, but he knew one thing, he was going to find himself walking through Sat Com at Mars sunrise again tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N: I should really be working on Gypsy Beans but I've been OBSESSED with The Martian lately and needed to get a meetcute for Mark and Mindy out. Right now this is just a one-shot but I'm open to continuing it if anyone is interested. Not sure how large the fan-base is for The Martian yet, but I'm sure it will grow once the movie comes out next week! *fangirlsqueal***

Disclaimer: The Martian and the characters therein belong to Andy Weir and I am not making any money off this, blah blah blah.


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